Wednesday, April 30

In a recent issue of Lonely Planet Traveler Magazine "52 Weekends Away" our very own La Tavola Marche was included at #49, "Cook Peasant Food in Italy"!

Here's an excerpt:

"The cucina povera (‘peasant food’) of rural Italy is an especially appealing cuisine to learn when your cookery school is a centuries-old farmhouse set in 250 acres of Le Marche countryside.

At La Tavola Marche agriturismo, chef and owner Jason helps students rustle up seasonal specialities...Classes start with a ramble through the farm gardens to collect fruit, veg and eggs, before moving on to make pizza, pasta, sausages or three course feasts from scratch. The good food continues throughout a weekend, with five-course dinners and walks through surrounding valleys in search of wild edibles (from £255 per person for three nights, incl accommodation; latavolamarche.com)."

There's still time to book a weekend getaway to our farm, inn & cooking school:

3 Nights Summer Special - Thursday thru Sunday starting at 715 Euro/COUPLE
Arrive to our legendary Thursday Pizza Party, the next day join the Chef
& feel like a local on a tour of the hidden meat & cheese
market of Apecchio (with a little porchetta along the way), a craft beer
tasting & tour followed by lunch at the ‘hunter’s hideaway’ and on
Saturday enjoy a half day cooking class including wine, meal & our
custom hand-made apron!

Sunday, April 27

This radish & strawberry salad certainly strays from the traditional dishes of Le Marche however is a perfect example of the philosophy "if it grows together, it goes together." The crunchy peppery radishes compliment the sweet juicy strawberries, add a bit of young spring onion (and if we were in the States, cilantro!) for a surprising and delicious spring salad. The recipe is inspired by our friends from Perennial Plate!

In a bowl combine radishes, strawberry & onion. Season with salt & pepper and a light drizzle of olive oil. Very gently (with your hands) toss the salad to incorporate all the ingredients.To serve: plate and drizzle a few drops of balsamic over the top, serve immediately.

Note: Anything from spring will work in this dish, fresh fava beans or peas, chive, etc - if it grows together it goes together.

Friday, April 25

The Annual Forage, Slaughter & Butchery Course at La Tavola Marche yet again asks brave culinary travelers to forage, slaughter and butcher their meal... while on holiday in Italy. Inspired by Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma the farm teaches students from around the world how to forage for mushrooms, slaughter (& butcher) a hen and then butcher a whole pig with knife-in-hand classes! This fall experience Italian farm life first hand with
this unique holiday.

If you call yourself a "foodie," pig lover, wine-o, gourmet or
gourmand this culinary holiday is for you! Vegetarians seek refuge
elsewhere because for five nights in October & November it's a all about meat
in the foothills of the Apennine Mountains of Central Italy. A carnivore’s delight - whole hog butchering course, sausage making, chicken slaughtering with hands-on cooking classes, mushroom hunting, wine tour & cheese tasting with lunch and truffle festivals.

At La Tavola Marche
you know where your food comes from; vegetables fresh picked from the
garden, eggs from the free-range hens, truffles foraged from the woods and fresh
meat from the neighbor. In a small group of ten you will truly experience the Italian country life & way of eating.

Forage, Slaughter and Butchery Course 28 October - 2 November 2014

4 - 9 November 2014

5 Nights = 925 Euro/person

(max 10 people)

SLOW FOOD & SLOW LIVING:

The first night you are welcomed to the 300 year old stone farmhouse
with the rich smells of a slow burning fire escaping through the
kitchen door, a feast to be remembered with each of the five courses
paired with local Marche wines and topped with truffles.

WINE TOUR:
Enjoy
a half-day private guided wine tasting & tour with lunch by an
Italian wine expert of the best family-run, most characteristic
vineyards of Le Marche. You will have the chance to visit a cheese
factory, honey producer, an oil mill, wineries and of course taste all
those products.

FARM LIFE:
From
collecting eggs from the hens to slaughtering & butchering the chickens for winter
it is all part of life on the farm that you will experience. Take a walk into the woods foraging for wild mushrooms.

COOKING CLASS:
Using
the fresh butchered meats Chef Jason will teach you how to make the
fundamentals from soups and stocks to slow roasting and
braising.

WHOLE HOG BUTCHERY:

Spend the
morning outside Urbino (UNESCO World Hertitage Site) at a locally famous
pig reserve for a tour of their farm, demonstration on
butchering and a delicious lunch of Carlo's cured specialties. While at
Ca'Bianchino students will follow the process, identifying and trimming
different cuts
of pork, learning the best cooking and curing technique for each cut
well as a
range of basic butchery skills as well as the basics of the aging
process,
how to make salami, cured meats and sausages.

TRUFFLES & MUSHROOMS
Visit one of the many local truffle festivals in the area from
Sant'Angelo in Vado to Acqualagna and sample this rare mushroom. Forage
in our back woods with a local expert for fall funghi!

Curious what the experience is really like? Written by a previous guest, read about last years course in her 7 part blog series! Part 1:Welcome Home

Thursday, April 24

Every spring our farmhouse is a pit-stop for small migrating birds travelling North from South Africa. We live in some sort of episode of National Geographics - from the small song birds & swallows to massive cranes and falcons/hawks to our live-in coo-coo bird & screeching owls - I'm no bird watcher (and can't name any specific breeds) but have become an admirer of our winged visitors & neighbors. It's incredible to think the thousands of miles they have travelled, returning year after year (for decades) to the same eaves of our farmhouse to make their nests for the next generation.

The other morning we found this sweet little nest - tucked away between the window & shutter. The small migrating birds have been making nests everywhere but we rarely get a chance to peak inside their handy-work. We were especially lucky to find these beauties - six tiny blue eggs (I think from a swallow)! The nest is in a safe spot and we'll be checking in daily to see when they hatch - I'll be sure to post photos. With eggs this small, I can't imagine how big the little chicks will be!!

Sunday, April 20

To celebrate this year we are eating with friends, this will be the first year in many that Jason is not stuck in kitchen! Finally, we have posted another podcast - it's up on iTunes & Stitcher available to download or stream! This episode Jason and I talk about the lunch to celebrate a local Chef's book on self-sustainability and reminisce of Easters' past... be sure to listen all the way to the end when the Italian fighter jets fly by!!

Friday, April 18

Last weekend we were invited to our friends pig farm to celebrate the publication of Italian Chef, Ivan Fantini's new book on self-sustainability. More than just a "0 km" diet (which this chef despises the term) it's about eating what you grow/what nature gives you and not just eating but living a self-sustainable life.

Our friends, Carlo & Gigia hosted the event with a big burger bbq - everything was from their farm & homemade keeping in mind with the book (and the lifestyle they live) -from the meat, buns and even the ketchup! And with Easter around the corner there was a basket of hard eggs and Gigia's homemade crescia di pasqua!!

We took the opportunity to shoot footage of the bbq and interview the Chef and few other characters we met along throughout the day...we'll post something soon! (We're still trying to nail down the name of our 'production company'...any suggestions?)

I had my eye on this home-made, self-serve wine contraption (made with a hose and old brass spigot) - Jason and our neighbor Louk are already designing one for pizza nights at our place!

After the burgers were eaten, the music begin to play...

Italian blues singer Joe Galullo a self-proclaimed reincarnated Native
American had a twinkle to his eye that made me instantly like him. This
old spirit is certainly young at heart and let me tell you, this ol'boy
could play the blues! He sat down with me before his show began for a
short interview on his life, his music and how it intersects with nature
and food.

Cream
butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Beat in eggs one
at a time, then add vanilla a few drops of your favorite liquor and beat
in.
Sift together all the dry ingredients.
Incorporate the
dry ingredients into the butter & egg mixture with a few strokes
of a wooden spoon forming a dough. Take 1/3 of the dough & and
roll it out slightly larger than your parchment lined tart pan. Roll
down the edges of the dough to create the crust.
Arrange the
strawberries slightly overlapping to cover the tart. You can sprinkle a
little sugar over the strawberries, if they are in season this is not
necessary.

To make the latticework top:
Pull off a
pinch of dough & roll into a long snake. This is an easy dough
to work with if it breaks just pinch it back together. This is a rustic
tart. Moist hands will help if the dough is sticky.
Continue until you have enough to make your lattice top.

Bake
in a preheated 350F/175C degree oven for about an hour or until the top
is nice & brown, the bottom is cooked & the dough
should shrink away from the pan a bit.

(Thank you Kelly from The Meaning of Pie for the photos taken during our cooking class.)And in loving memory of a very special guest...

Wednesday, April 9

In the last 'regularly schedule online class' of the season we are cooking a lovely light spring/summer lunch of Arugula & Walnut Pesto with Fresh Pasta and a Rustic Tart with Strawberries and Cream.

For a peppery twist, update your pesto recipe with a new classic:
arugula and walnut! Serve tossed over fresh pasta or rubbed on toasty
bread with a ribbon of Parmesan, a delicious topping for pizza or a
beautiful frittata with a dollop of arugula pesto! Pesto with
endless possibilities…And for dessert a rustic tart or crostata that is
traditionally filled with jam will be made with fresh strawberries and
whipped mascarpone cream.

Our classes focus not only the recipes at hand but the technique and
theories behind each dish. It’s more than just watching an episode of a
cooking show on television because this is not only LIVE but
interactive! Students/viewers will have the chance to ask questions
along the way since all the cooking is done together LIVE! (Plus the
classes are recorded & you will receive a copy of the class - how
cool is that?!) Either join in the fun and cook along with us or sit
back and watch with a glass of wine.

If you can't make the class, you can always order a copy of the class recording as well!

LIVE from ITALY: Online Cooking Class on Sunday, April 13, 2014Early Broadcast: 1pm EST / 10am PST
Late Broadcast: 4pm EST / 1pm PST- FULLY BOOKED
(The class will last about an hour in duration.)
Cost: $5 (Can’t make it live? Purchase the class for $5 to receive the password & link)

To REGISTER email: info@latavolamarche.com

Please send an email and include your preferred time slot (Early or Late). Once
payment is received (via PayPal) we will send you the recipes,
ingredients & equipment list plus the all important pre-class prep
list! You will receive a recorded copy a day or two after the class.
For more details click here!